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Florida State baseball clinched their first ACC series win with a 9-4 win over Virginia this afternoon. The Seminoles’ slumping offense broke out in the win. FSU had eight hits and nine walks. They had just two more K than walks as they made UVA pitchers work all day. The ‘Noles also received another dazzling performance from their weekend rotation. Through two games in the series, FSU’s starters have posted a line of 14 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 17 K, 0 R. After being swept last week, the ‘Noles will have an opportunity to return the favor tomorrow against a consensus top-20 team.
Three up
- Bryce Hubbart followed up Parker Messick’s gem with one of his own. Hubbart was the best he has ever looked in his short time at FSU. Last season, the southpaw struggled to keep the ball down and consistently land his curveball. The second-year freshman was consistent with all three of his pitches today and kept the Virginia hitters guessing. The fastball sat 89-91 for the majority of the outing, but jumps out of his hand when combined with the curveball. He landed his 12-6 curveball all day and the Cavaliers couldn’t do much of anything against it. All of Hubbart’s strikeouts came on the breaking ball. He also used his changeup effectively in the low 80’s, inducing multiple roll-overs from right-handed hitters. Since Jimmy Belanger moved Hubbart to the opposite side of the rubber, he’s been in command of the zone which has allowed him to show off his dominant stuff. The lefty allowed just a couple hard hit balls in six efficient innings. Hubbart’s final line was 6.0 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 6 K’s, 0 R, 82 P (51 S).
- Florida State has already clinched the series because of their situational and timely hitting, the thing they struggled with the most last weekend. FSU was 6-6 in scoring runners on third with less than two outs. They were 4-11 with runners in scoring position. FSU had just two hits with runners on base last week. Florida State hitters converted in 53.6% of advancement opportunities. The Seminoles also did a good job getting on base leading off innings, as the leadoff hitter reached base in five of eight innings. When Florida State is making productive outs, they’ll be a hard team to beat.
- The bottom of Florida State’s order was the energizer that FSU was looking for on offense. Garrett Mathes got his first start in Garnet and Gold and responded with his first career hit. Mathes also walked. Logan Lacey walked in his only plate appearance before coming out with an injury. His replacement, Jackson Greene, had a hit and two walks. Nander De Sedas had a crucial two-RBI single to the opposite field and also walked. Vince Smith followed De Sedas’ RBI-single with an RBI double deep into the LCF gap. The freshman also walked and didn’t K. The bottom four in the order combined to score six of nine runs and drove in five. They struck out just twice in 16 plate appearances.
Three down
- Florida State had a couple miscommunications in the field in the 7th inning. On a fly ball to right-center field, both Reese Albert and Robby Martin went for the ball. The ball dropped in between them and went for the Seminoles’ first error of the weekend. On the next pitch, Jack Anderson and Matheu Nelson had a cross up. Nelson was expecting a breaking ball, but instead took a fastball to the thumb/wrist area. Nelson was quickly taken out of the game by trainers. The miscommunications led to four unearned runs.
- Chase Haney has not been close to the normal Chase Haney this season. Haney came in with runners on the corners and one out in the 7th. He struck out the first hitter, but walked the next hitter on four pitches. Nic Kent took advantage of a hanging slider to clear the bases with a double down the LF line. None of the runs were on Haney’s line, but he’s struggled to stay away from hard contact this year. In five Ip, he’s allowed six hits and three walks.
- N/A. Another good day for Florida State besides the 7th inning.